ABS Building Approvals show that the number of dwellings approved fell 1.0% in December 2011, in seasonally adjusted terms, following a rise of 10.1% in November.

Dwelling approvals decreased for the month of December in Victoria (-16.7%), South Australia (-9.1%) and New South Wales (-5.0%), but rose in Queensland (24.6%), Tasmania (15.6%) and Western Australia (6.0%) in seasonally adjusted terms.

In seasonally adjusted terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 0.2% in December with rises in Western Australia (6.3%) and Queensland (4.7%), while South Australia (-8.3%), New South Wales (-3.7%) and Victoria (-3.4%) fell.

The value of total building approved increased 1.9% in December in seasonally adjusted terms, following a decrease of 0.5% in November. The value of residential building increased 1.0% while non-residential building rose 3.3%.

Widespread flooding, and other natural disasters, in the eastern states during late 2010 and early 2011 have not adversely affected participation by providers in the Building Approvals collection or the quality of estimates in this release. However, these events may have had an impact on the number of approved dwellings and the value of approved work.

Further information is available in Building Approvals, Australia (cat no. 8731.0) on the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au

Media Note: Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.